Although a conviction appears almost certain, given that Russian courts rarely acquit defendants and Griner has acknowledged that there were vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage, judges have considerable latitude on sentencing.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, urging him to accept a deal under which Griner and Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia on an espionage conviction, would go free.
The Lavrov-Blinken call marked the highest-level known contact between Washington and Moscow since Russia sent troops into Ukraine more than five months ago.